Evil Innocence
by DarkPoisonousLove
Summary: "The irony was that that innocence was the most evil thing about her because it would always remind him that no matter what dark deeds she had done, she would always be better than him." Set after 2x05 "The Doctor". Regina understands how Whale, Jefferson and Rumple deceived her in the Enchanted Forest.
1. Whale

**A/N: I have always wondered what would happen if Regina understood about Whale, Jefferson and Rumple's deception back in the Enchanted Forest. That's how this was born.**

 **Credit to my friend Veronika for the cover. You can check out her other drawings at Terironi Art in tumblr.**

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

Regina was sitting on the couch in her living room and staring into the empty space in front of her. She was so exhausted that even the thoughts that had tormented her during the day were now gone. After what happened with Daniel and the session with Dr. Hopper she couldn't find the energy even to climb the stairs and go to her bed.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the door. She decided to ignore it, thinking that it was David wanting to check up on her but the knock came again and it was louder this time. Someone was practically pounding on her door.

"Regina, I know you're there."

She was surprised to hear Whale's voice. What was he doing there? She wasn't in the mood of talking to anyone but she wanted to know why he decided to bring Daniel back and how he did it. She didn't have the chance to ask him given the circumstances.

Driven by her curiosity she managed to stand up and make it to the door. The first thing to draw her attention when she opened it was that Whale's left arm was in its place. He must have visited Gold. The second thing she noticed was how worn out he looked. Just like her.

"May I come in?"

Regina considered her answer for a moment but her need for answers wouldn't allow her to close the door. She stepped aside to let him in without saying a word. She led him to the study and offered him a drink when he made himself comfortable on the couch. He accepted and downed the apple cider the moment she handed him the glass.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, not bothering with politeness. She didn't have the patience for that.

"I want to talk about my brother," Whale said directly.

Regina sighed. She was too tired for that nonsense. She was about to tell him that she couldn't bring his brother to this land but just then she saw an opportunity.

"How about a deal?"

He eyed her suspiciously. She could tell though that he would accept. She was offering him exactly what he wanted so desperately. He wouldn't resist no matter what suspicions he had and they both knew it.

"What deal?"

A smile appeared on Regina's face. She didn't care she was going to promise something she couldn't do. She would find a way to take his brother to this land if need be. Or she simply wouldn't keep her end of the deal. It didn't matter. It wouldn't be the first time she tricked somebody.

"I will bring your brother here if you tell me why you brought Daniel back to life and how. As I recall, the last time you failed. How did you succeed now?" Regina didn't look away from him even for a second so she noticed the worry that ran across his face for a moment. She knew he was ready to turn down her proposal but she wouldn't let him do it. He was hiding something. Something he didn't want to tell her even if it meant that he would get what he wanted so badly. Something she was determined to find out. "You know that I can easily make you tell me simply by ripping your heart out but I am not doing it. Instead, I am offering you what you want in return.

Whale knew that at this point he couldn't prevent her from learning the truth. Nothing could. Not even her promise to Henry not to use magic because he knew without a doubt that she would rip his heart out if needed but she would get her answers. The only question was how. Would he tell her willingly or would she have to force him?

"I'll tell you," he said, not even bothering to accept the deal because he knew that every possibility of her helping him would be gone in the second he told her the truth "I thought that if I helped you, you would help me," he decided to start with why he did it.

Regina almost rolled her eyes in irritation and he knew that she must have figured that out already. Or she simply was bored by his obsession with his brother.

"The first time it didn't work because I wasn't trying to bring him back," he continued. She frowned.

"What were you doing then?"

Whale considered lying to her but that was a bad idea. He had already mentioned too much. Besides, the last time he lied to her didn't end well for anyone.

"Breaking you. I had made a deal with Rumplestiltskin. He wanted you to lose every hope of bringing your true love back to life so that he could turn you into his monster." He waited with fear for her reaction. He expected her to throw a fireball at him or rip his heart out and crush it but nothing of the sort happened.

Regina was staring at him shocked with eyes wide as saucers. Her world crumbled again. For the second time that day. She had been manipulated and deceived in the vilest way possible. Of course she knew that Rumple had used her to serve his own purposes but she had never imagined how far he had gone to turn her into the Evil Queen, into his puppet. The truth hit her so hard that she just couldn't take it. Tears started falling from her eyes and she didn't care if she looked weak or pathetic.

Whale looked at her awestruck. In a second the Evil Queen in front of him disappeared and her place was taken by the young and naïve Regina who only wanted to love and be loved. She looked so pure and innocent again and yet so broken that it made him hate himself for what he did to her. He had played his part in turning her into a monster and the blood of her victims was on his hands too. He felt filthy and pathetic but she – she had managed to save her innocence through the years and the dead bodies she had left behind. And that awful innocence of hers was driving him crazy with need. He needed to feel pure again.

Before he could process what he was doing he stood up from the couch, grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her. His tongue invaded her mouth before she could stop him. The kiss was hungry and greedy. He was trying to devour her whole.

Regina was too shocked to push him away but when they finally parted she saw red. She was ready to set him on fire but the look in his eyes made her change her mind. He looked as if he had lost everything and she knew that was more painful than anything she could do to him. She turned around and exited the room. The bang of the front door informed Whale that she had left the house.

He slumped on the floor, devastated by the recent events. The kiss just made him feel worse than before. He had tried to steal the only thing she had left. He could blame it on the alcohol and he probably would in the morning but not now. Now he knew that his selfishness was the cause of everything. Because of his selfishness he had helped Rumplestiltskin create the evil residing in her heart and again because of it he had tried to take her innocence for himself to ease the guilt of what he had done. The irony was that that innocence was the most evil thing about her because it would always remind him that no matter what dark deeds she had done, she would always be better than him.


	2. Jefferson

**A/N: Please review. I would like to know what you think of the story.**

Regina was walking down the main street. She had almost reached the woods by now. It seemed to her that she had left the mansion hours ago and she still couldn't fully comprehend what Whale had told her. She ran every single detail she remembered about that day in the Enchanted Forest through her mind for the hundredth time and she still couldn't believe that it was one big lie. A scheme to turn her into the Evil Queen. It had seemed so real then. The sympathy written on Whale's face when he had told her that the procedure had failed and Jefferson's hand on her shoulder while he had been trying to comfort her.

Jefferson. Whale hadn't mentioned him but as Regina considered it there was no way that he hadn't known about the deal. He had been the one who had told her about Whale and he had brought him to her. That and the fact that they had met in Rumple's castle was proof enough that he had known.

Anger started bubbling up in her when she remembered how Jefferson had pretended to be one of her victims. She was one of his. And yet he had the insolence to blame her for ruining his life.

Regina decided that she needed to speak to him. She thought of using magic to teleport as the idea of walking to Jefferson's house did not appeal to her but she had promised Henry not to. She already felt guilty that she had almost used it to kill Whale. She didn't want to add more to that feeling. Besides, the walk could calm her so she continued towards Jefferson's mansion.

When she arrived there an hour later she was even angrier thanks to her thoughts that had refused to leave her mind even for a second. She knocked loudly on the door. A minute passed and there was no answer. She knocked again. Jefferson finally opened the door and froze when he saw her.

"Is Grace here?" Regina asked. Despite everything her maternal instinct was stronger than the urge to kill him. She wanted to spare the girl her father's dark past.

"No," Jefferson mumbled when he finally regained his ability to speak.

"Good." A loud noise followed when she slapped him across the face. "We need to talk." She walked past him and entered the house.

"What the hell?" he asked as he followed her into the living room. "You come to my house at this ungodly hour and…"

"I know what you did." Regina interrupted him as she turned to face him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Back in the Enchanted Forest. When you brought Whale to me. I know you had made a deal with Rumplestiltskin."

"So what? That was years ago." His irritating confidence had returned.

"Yes, but your pathetic attempt to kill me by making Gold do the whole job was only a few days ago."

"I had reasons. You certainly understand that," he replied smugly.

"Your reason was that I tricked you…"

"Again."

"…which would have never happened if you hadn't helped turning me into the Evil Queen."

"Of course," Jefferson sneered. "I should've known what this is about. You are searching for someone to blame for your mistakes."

He expected a tantrum or a snarky response but neither of those followed. Only a sad whisper.

"Why?" Suddenly she was not the Evil Queen anymore. He was looking at the brown eyes of the sorrowful inconsolable girl who had lost every hope of being reunited with her true love. "What did you get in exchange?" She sounded so broken that it made him cringe.

"Does it really matter?"

"I just want to know what you traded my love for." It was quiet, almost a whisper. But the accusation in her tone was so loud that it almost made him deaf. It enraged him. There she stood, looking all twenty and innocent again, blaming him for all of her mistakes. As if he were the one who had killed so many people, as if he were the one who had cursed an entire realm and she was only a victim of the cruelty of the world.

"I didn't trade anything. He was already dead," he snarled.

"You toyed with my feelings as if they were meaningless," a single tear escaped her left eye.

"You have no right to blame me after everything you've done to me and everyone else."

"None of that would have happened, if you hadn't deceived me like that." Her eyes were now dry again and the bite in her tone had returned.

"Really?" Jefferson asked and she gave him a menacing look. One that only encouraged him to go further and bring out the Evil Queen in her. "We both know that you would eventually turn into a monster even without anyone's help. It's in your DNA." Regina opened her mouth to object but he didn't give her the chance. "I know your mother. She uses everything she has to accomplish her goals. She kills people in cold blood if it will get her what she wants." He was coming closer and closer as he spoke until he was only inches away from her. "You are just like her."

Rage was radiating from her. She raised her hand to slap him again but he expected it this time and caught her wrist, pulling her towards him. In the next moment his lips were on hers. He wanted to infuriate her enough to destroy the innocence she had somehow managed to salvage after everything she had done. He ravaged her mouth with his tongue, leaving her breathless. Before parting completely he bit down on her lower lip violently, drawing a whimper and even a little blood.

When he finally let go of Regina he realized that what he had just done would probably cost him his life. He looked at her, expecting to see an outraged Evil Queen at her full capacity, only to be surprised again. Instead of angry she seemed hurt as if the kiss had caused her physical pain, which it actually had but he knew that was not the reason for the look in her eyes. He had tried to take something from her again. For the second time that night the queen in front of him transformed into the innocent and vulnerable girl she had been more than thirty years ago. He reached out for her not fully aware of his own intentions but she quickly moved backwards. She turned around and left without so much as another word.

The weight Jefferson felt in his chest was excruciating. He hated Regina but more than anything he hated that evil innocence of hers that would always be there to remind him that no matter what sins she had committed she would always be better than him.


	3. Gold

Regina left Jefferson's house with tears in her eyes, thinking about his kiss. It was just like Whale's. They had both tried to steal something from her. As If they hadn't taken enough from her already. As if they weren't the ones who had sent her on the path towards hatred and vengeance. As if they hadn't stolen her whole life. She forced herself to stop thinking and just continue walking. She needed to go home.

It was almost dawn when she reached the town but the lights were on in Gold's shop. She tried to ignore that fact and just go home. It wasn't a good idea to confront Gold right now. And yet she couldn't resist. It was as if some invisible force was pulling her towards the shop like a magnet.

She sighed and opened the door. The bell announced her presence. She heard noises from the back room. She told herself that she wouldn't do anything rash as she had done with Jefferson but that thought disappeared in the very second she saw Gold's face.

"You bastard," Regina snarled at him as she came closer and stood in front of him.

"What is this about?" he asked calmly.

"You used my love for Daniel to turn me into a monster."

"Oh, that," he said dismissively, not even slightly disturbed by her anger.

"You ruined my life and all I get is a poker face and an 'oh, that'?"

"You should be thanking me."

"Thanking you?" Regina asked with disbelief. "For what? Turning me into the Evil Queen who is hated by everyone?"

"If I hadn't turned you into the Evil Queen, you wouldn't have Henry right now. So I suggest next time you think twice before coming here with your ridiculous accusations, Your Majesty."

She quickly formed a fireball in her palm but before she could throw it at him, he extinguished the flames. In the next second he cut off her oxygen with his magic.

"Watch it, Regina!" Gold growled. "Don't forget who is standing in front of you. Don't forget that I own you and you're breathing just because I allow it."

His magical grip on her throat was preventing her from speaking but her eyes were saying 'that's not true'.

"Oh, but it is, dearie," he chuckled. "When I met your mother we made a deal. I taught her magic and in exchange she promised me her first-born child. You belonged to me even before you were born." That wasn't exactly true but Regina didn't know it.

A tear slid down her cheek. Her mother had sold her before she had given birth to her. She wasn't surprised though. It sounded like something Cora would do but it didn't make it less painful. It hurt just as bad. More tears escaped her eyes.

Gold was taken aback. He had expected her to get angry or defensive or both. But certainly not that. Not the pain in her eyes. Not the tears. He hadn't expected to see the innocent girl she had been when they had first met. Not anymore. But she was right there, standing in front of him. He wasn't looking at the monster he created but at the young queen whose heart was pure and untouched by his darkness. He had thought he had destroyed her but there she was, looking at him with her warm brown eyes as if she had never left. He felt as if she were taunting him with her innocence. Her mere presence was offensive. She should have disappeared with the first heart that Regina had crushed. But even now, numerous murders later, the innocent side of the queen was still there. And it made him see red. She was not supposed to be pure. Not after all the efforts he had made to turn her into the Evil Queen.

Regina felt Gold's fingers wrapping around her throat, replacing his magic. He wasn't squeezing too tight but the edges of her vision blurred. She parted her lips in attempt to breathe in more oxygen. A familiar feeling of fear crept through her. One that was mixed with excitement. One that set every nerve in her body on fire. One that only he could elicit.

"You are mine," Gold whispered, his eyes boring into her. And then he leaned in and kissed her. His free hand tangled in her raven locks, keeping her in place. Regina wasn't surprised. Not after what had happened with Whale and Jefferson.

That kiss was different though. His tongue was demanding and she found herself responding, kissing him back and he chuckled. He was exploring her mouth, claiming her. It was passionate and rough as if he wanted to brand her with that kiss so that everyone would know she belonged to him. He didn't stop until her lungs started burning from the lack of oxygen and she was suffocating. Finally, they parted and he loosened his grip on her, allowing her to take a few deep breaths but his fingers never left her skin.

"I told you that you are mine, dearie," Gold said triumphantly, his fingers moving up the column of her throat teasingly, barely touching her. "Every single thought of yours is there because of me." He traced his thumb over her bottom lip but she pulled back, causing him to chuckle again. "Even the ridiculous thought that you can resist is my doing." He grinned when he saw the fire that roared to life in her eyes. That stubbornness of her. She was determined to prove him wrong no matter what. That was the Evil Queen he had created. His monster. "It wouldn't be interesting if you just gave up."

She gave him one last look full of contempt and left the shop. His grin disappeared when he remembered the sight of the sad brown eyes that had stared at him earlier. He knew that sight was going to haunt him. Because that evil innocence of hers would always be there to remind him that no matter what he did to darken her she would never be his.

 **The end.**


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